resolve news

RESOLVE news
research and education for solutions
to violence and abuse
Volume 14 Number 4
December 2012
“Building the smallest democracies at the heart of society.”
The United Nations: The International Year of the Family, 1994
Agreement# 40063171
Mothers and Infants Exposed to Intimate Partner Violence



by Nicole Letourneau
C
hildren exposed to Intimate Partner Violence
(IPV) have been found to experience severe
after effects, including emotional and
behavioural problems and social and cognitive
problems. However, some children from families with
IPV develop well or are “resilient” in spite of this risk,
creating the impetus for an increased understanding
of ways to support the healthy development of
children exposed to IPV. Given that some mothers of
preschool–age children exposed to IPV may be more
sensitive and responsive to their children than other
mothers, and the early mother–child relationship
is known to be a potent predictor of children’s
developmental outcomes, the early mother–child
relationship may be an important protective factor
for children in families affected by IPV.
Hughes and Luke* suggest that the mother–infant
relationship may moderate the impacts of IPV on
development. Indeed, one of the most potent
predictors of children’s developmental success is
their relationship or interaction with a parent (usually
the mother). Optimal mother–infant interactions are
characterized by parental sensitivity to infant needs,
responsiveness, social–emotional growth fostering,
and cognitive growth fostering activities. In this
study, we wanted to know how mothers exposed
to violence interact with their infants. Do they
compensate or does the violence spillover to affect
their relationships with their infants?
Methods
This study employed quantitative and qualitative
methods. The sample consisted of 51 mother–infant
pairs from Atlantic Canada who reported experience
RESOLVE news
of violence consistent with the Centres for Disease
Control (CDC) criteria. Mothers reported living with
a violent partner when they had an infant under
the age of 12 months and that they were no longer
in the violent relationship or that they were in the
relationship, but currently accessed services for
IPV. The average age of the children was just under
24 months while the average age of mothers was
approximately 29 years. The length of children’s
exposure to IPV ranged from one to 30 months.
During qualitative semi–structured interviews,
mothers were asked to describe their experience
parenting their child while in a violent relationship,
and how they believed it affected their parenting,
their child, and themselves. Mother–child
relationship quality was assessed using the Nursing
Child Assessment Teaching Scale (NCATS), which
is a video observational measure. The NCATS is
the most widely used measure of mother–child
interaction, and provides a binary measure of
73 behavioural items that assess the presence of
sensitivity and responsiveness in relationships with
higher scores representing more optimal mother–
infant interactions. Specific NCATS subscales examine
Mothers and Infants Exposed... cont’d on page 6
Inside this issue ...
2. WISH Inc. Celebrates
25 Years of Helping Women
and Their Children
3. RESOLVE Manitoba Update
4. RESOLVE Saskatchewan
Update
5. RESOLVE Alberta Update
6. Mothers and Infants..., con’t.
7. Announcements ,
Conferences & Events
8. Prairieaction Update
Page 1
December 2012 Volume 14 Number 4
WISH Inc. (Women in Second Stage Housing)
Celebrates 25 Years of Helping Women and Their Children
Build Better Tomorrows



by Lori Rudniski, Executive Director, WISH Inc.
A
SAFETY, COURAGE, STRENGTH
children may be babies, toddlers, school age and
t WISH Inc., Safety,Courage,
and Strength are more than
teenagers. These are the women who know there
just words—these are the
is a life free from violence for themselves and their
actions that have guided our work for
children but need help to turn their hope into reality.
over 25 years, and continue to be our
They know that even though they may leave with
solid foundation as we move towards
little, except what they can carry with them, they
the future. From the very beginning,
are determined to build a better life free from abuse.
when a group of inspiring people in
They want their children to be safe, happy, and free
the community and government saw a need, we
from fear. For many, they are breaking the cycle of
have seen this courage in action. Building on the
violence that they, too, had to experience when
success of short term
they where children.
emergency shelters,
Throughout the years,
these pioneers set
we have had the
out to provide safe
honour of seeing these
housing and longer–
families standing taller
term support for the
and walking prouder
women and their
as they feel safer and
children who attempt
more confident in
to make concrete
their new life free from
changes in their lives.
violence.
Although
These women and
many of the challenges
children
needed
of building a new life
support and a place
may continue, these
to live so as to not
women and their
to return to a home
children can meet
filled with violence
these hurdles with
and harm. In 1986,
a stronger belief in
On
September
27,
2012,
over
240
friends
of
WISH Inc. opened
themselves, and rhw
WISH Inc. heard the amazing talents of Manitoba’s own
its doors as the first
strength of skills and
Sierra
Noble,
the
clever
wit
of
emcee
Jon
Ljunberg,
second–stage program
knowledge.
and celebrated over 25 years of helping women and
in Manitoba.
their children break free from violence.
Looking forward to the
Since then, we see
next 25 years, we know
this strength everyday
that our agency will continue to grow and expand
in the women we serve, from their initial decision
to meet the needs of the women and children we
to come to the WISH Program through to their
serve. The work continues, but the safety, courage,
graduation day that celebrates their year of success
and strength of all perseveres in building great
and growth, and beyond.
tomorrows!
These are the courageous women who have made
the difficult choice to leave their home and seek
safety and help for themselves and their children.
They are in their 20’s 30’s 40’s and beyond. Their
Page 2
To find out more about WISH Inc. (Women in Second
Stage Housing), please check out our website at
wishinc.ca, e-mail us at [email protected], or
call our office at 204-275-2600. z
RESOLVE news
Volume 14 Number 4
December 2012
Manitoba Update



by Jane Ursel
New Projects
ESOLVE continues its work on issues of trauma
with Klinic Community Health Centre through
a project entitled Developing an Online Trauma
Informed Training Workshop: A Formative Evaluation.
Based on funding from the First Nations and Inuit
Health Branch, Klinic will develop an online version
of their trauma–informed workshop. RESOLVE will
help in this process by
contacting
previous
workshop participants
and
asking
them
for feedback on the
workshop, and their
views and suggestions
for transferring it to an
online format. Feedback
will be obtained through
brief
questionnaires
e-mailed to participants,
and phone interviews
with
selected
participants. The project
will conclude in Spring
2013.
R
Information Sharing
Communicating our research results is a high
priority for RESOLVE. In addition to our books
and published articles, attending conferences
and presenting papers is an excellent means of
sharing our results with practitioners in the field.
This Fall, RESOLVE staff and students have been
busy presenting data from several of our studies
at conferences in Western Canada. Jane Ursel
presented findings from the Healing Journey
study on the The Costs of Abuse and the Promise
of Intervention at the RESOLVE Research Day in
Regina. Preliminary results show that women who
can leave abusive relationships are much more
likely to pursue education and employment than
women who still cope with abuse. Jocelyn Proulx
and our community partner, Suhad Bisharat
(Laurel Centre), presented results from their study
of men sexually abused as children Of Myths and
Men: Suppressing Disclosures of Childhood Sexual
Abuse. They generously offered to send their
RESOLVE news
extensive bibliography to anyone who made a
request. If you are interested, contact Jocelyn at
[email protected].
On November7, Jane Ursel, Cheryl Fraehlich and
Marta Krygier attended the National Research Day
in Vancouver. The theme of this conference was
Sexual Violence, Domestic Violence: Exploring the
Continuum of Violence
Against Women and
Girls. Cheryl presented
a paper with data from
the Winnipeg Family
Violence Court entitled
Seeking Justice: Issues
of Race and Gender
in a Specialized Family
Violence Court. Jane
and Marta presented a
paper on child sexual
abuse cases heard in
the Winnipeg Family
Violence Court. Jane
also presented a paper
on the two different
types of information RESOLVE collects—one from
institutional sources, for example police and court
documents, and another type of information we
receive from women’s own stories of their abuse
and help seeking behaviour. She suggested that
these mixed methodologies provide a rich source
of information, and combining the two sources of
data fill gaps and enrich our understanding of the
dynamics of abuse and the process of intervention.
Communicating our research results is always
an important issue for academics and service
providers alike. However, content analysis of
public media indicates that women’s voices are
seriously underrepresented in newspaper articles
and the electronic media. In December 2012,
RESOLVE Manitoba and the University of Manitoba
sponsor two workshops for academic women and
one workshop for service providers to increase
women’s voices in public discourse. z
Page 3
December 2012 Volume 14 Number 4
Saskatchewan Update



by Mary Hampton, Ann Bishop, and Eric Oleson
A
nother successful research day was put on in
Regina, Saskatchewan. Ann Bishop, Conference
coordinator, did a wonderful job making sure all
came off without a hitch. Pictures are thanks to Eric
Oleson, our resident creative genius.
A unique feature
in our conference
was the healing
room,
hosted
by Elder Betty
McKenna.
The
healing room is a
space intended for
people who may
get “triggered” by
the content in the
conference. They
can then go for
assistance, safety,
and peace in this space.
We opened the conference with the Dessert Social on
the evening of Thursday, October 18. This event gave
us a chance to hear from those who brought greetings
from various sectors, including the Saskatchewan
government, Prairieaction Foundation, University of
Regina, and Luther College.
Our guiding Elder, Betty
Dr. Mary Hampton
McKenna, opened the
conference with a traditional
prayer. The Honourable
Dr. Lillian Dyck (member
We
had
of the Senate of Canada
23
sessions
from
Saskatchewan),
throughout
the
gave the opening keynote
day
on
Friday.
address. Dr. Dyck is an
Presenters
Aboriginal scientist who
came
from
always attends our events
A
l
b
e
r
t
a ,
and is very supportive of
& Brenda Anderson’s
Saskatchewan,
The Honourable
our work. She spoke very Wendy Kubik’s
presentation
Manitoba, and
Dr. Lillian Dyck
movingly
about
being
the Northwest
harassed as an academic,
Territories.
Each
session
was
interesting
and timely. Just
and her healing to rise as a Canadian senator. Professor
under
100
folks
attended—academics,
researchers,
Sarah Abbott shared her film entitled This Time Last
and service providers from community agencies.
Winter at the
Members of RESOLVE Saskatchewan’s steering
lunch session.
committee donated their time to host the sessions.
Professor
Volunteers from RESOLVE Saskatchewan, the SSHRC/
Abbott
has
CURA, and Dr. Hampton’s psychology of women class
received
the
assisted Ann with the heavy lifting, etc.
Lieutenant
Governor’s
O n c e
Arts
Award
received,
as a result of
presentations
her innovative
will
be
teaching and
uploaded for
work.
She
Sarah Abbott
viewing on
brings
her
our website
productions to
at
www.
the community so that we can involve all in healing
uregina.ca/
from experiences of abuse and violence. She hosted
(l-r): Darlene Juschka & Ann Bishop
resolve. z
a question and answer session following the film to
answer questions about this anti-violence work.
Page 4
RESOLVE news
Volume 14 Number 4
December 2012
Alberta Update: New Alberta-led Team Seeking to Help Mothers
and Young Children Cope With Toxic Stress



by Nicole Letourneau
Family violence is a toxic stressor
others suffering from toxic stress, such
as family violence and/or prolonged
depression are often consumed by the effort
of coping with the difficulties of their everyday lives.
Not surprisingly, many of these mothers are challenged
to respond sensitively and appropriately to meet the
needs of their developing infants. In this way, toxic stress
can interfere with the formation of secure parent-infant
attachments, necessary for healthy infant and child
development. Secure attachment represents the infant’s
emerging expectation that his or her basic needs for
soothing, comfort and protection from danger will be
met by his or her caregiver. Meta-analyses suggest that
while secure parent-infant attachment predicts optimal
health and developmental outcomes in children,
insecure attachment and particularly, disorganized
attachment, predicts symptoms of depression and
anxiety, displays of aggression, conduct problems,
hostility and psychopathology in children and adults.
Exposure to toxic stress related to family dysfunction
and abuse in early childhood, has even been associated
with the leading causes of adult morbidity, mortality
and disability including cardiovascular disease, chronic
lung and liver disease, depression
and other mental illnesses, as
well as obesity, smoking, alcohol
and drug abuse. This long list
of physical and mental health
problems suggests pathways for
intergenerational transmission of
the effects of toxic stress.
M
Responding to calls for
interventions to address toxic stress
In 2012, the American Academy of Pediatrics produced
a landmark document calling for interventions to
address the effects of toxic stress. This sentiment is
echoed in Let’s Talk About the Early Years, produced
by the Government of Alberta, which recommends
that intervention start earlier to reduce the impact of
toxic stressors on infants and preschoolers. Attachment
interventions may help address the effects of toxic stress
exposure as they demonstrate improvements in infant
irritability/difficultness, children’s behaviour, emotional
regulation and neurocognitive development, even
RESOLVE news
among children exposed to violence and maltreatment.
Attachment interventions also reduce maternal stress
and depressive symptoms and improve maternal-infant
relationships. In response, the Canadian Attachment
Network- Action Team on Triadic Attachment and
Child Health (CAN-ATTACH) has been created to
develop an innovative attachment intervention to help
these mother and their young children.
Innovative attachment intervention
In spite of the promise of attachment interventions to
address the effects of toxic stress, most have not been
evaluated in community-service settings that many
mothers access. Traditional attachment intervention
models have almost exclusively focused on (some
might say, excessively burden) mothers and have not
meaningfully included mothers’ sources of maternalinfant support in their intervention design. Glaring
omissions include grandparents and siblings who – in
impoverished and/or extended families from various
cultures – often play significant roles in helping young
children feel safe and prepare for the outside world,
stepping in to parent in support of mothers or in their
stead when they are unable or unwilling to care for their
infants. Unmarried and divorced
mothers typically receive some
form of support for their parenting
through their extended family,
especially during infancy. Existing
attachment interventions that do
not meaningfully involve mothers’
main sources of co-parenting
support may be limited in their
usefulness for mothers and infants
affected by family violence. This is
why CAN-ATTACH focuses on the “triad” of mother,
infant, and mother’s main source of support (the triad).
CAN-ATTACH has thus been created to develop, test
and disseminate an innovative attachment intervention
that could be integrated into community services for
mothers, young children and mothers’ primary sources
of co-parenting support. We have begun the search
for funding and, ultimately CAN-ATTACH seeks to
reduce the transmission of intergenerational violence
via reducing the effects of toxic stress on mothers and
infants. z
Page 5
December 2012 Volume 14 Number 4
Mothers and Infants Exposed... cont’d from page 1
maternal sensitivity to infant cues, responsiveness to
distress, social–emotional and cognitive growth fostering
activities, infant clarity of cues, and responsiveness to
caregiver. Mothers and infants scores were compared to
those in the NCATS normative database of thousands of
mothers from various walks of life.
Results
NCATS mean scores were compared to
those of mothers from lower– (grade 12 or
less) and higher– (at least some community
college or university) educated groups in the
NCATS database. On two of four subscales
(sensitivity to cues and cognitive growth
fostering activities), abused mothers’ scores
were significantly higher (suggesting more
optimal interactions), than the normative
NCATS means for either lower educated
or higher–educated mothers. However,
on two of the subscales (responsiveness to
infant distress and social–emotional growth
fostering activities), abused mothers’ mean
scores were significantly lower than the
NCATS database, suggesting less optimal
interactions than the norms. Children also had a role
to play, as they had significantly higher scores on their
subscales (clarity of cues and responsiveness to caregiver)
than infants in the NCATS normative database. In other
words, these infants were very clear in communicating
their needs to their caregivers and were more responsive.
Qualitative data revealed that many mothers reported
having a stronger relationship with their child because of
their experience with IPV. Mothers specifically described
how violence interfered with their relationship with their
child and how they tried to “make up” for their child’s
exposure to violence through their interaction. Some
ways mothers tried to compensate for, or offset, the
negative experiences of their child included: being more
soothing, more engaged in playtime, and protective.
One mother said, “I tried to cuddle her more and stuff
like that because of everything that she had to see.”
Consistent with the quantitative findings suggesting
improved interactions in most, but not all domains,
some mothers spoke of a negative impact. Ten thought
the bond with their child was delayed or weakened,
14 spoke about being robotic or not really engaged, 11
indicated that they had been too afraid at times to focus
on their mothering, and eight reported being emotionally
Page 6
unavailable, ex. ignoring crying. One mother
described being like “a robot doing the things
that have to be done, but you are not necessarily
doing the extra or the fun things.” Fear interfered
with mothers’ care giving by making them
emotionally distressed, and focused on avoiding
violent outbreaks, which could be precipitated
by their care giving or the child’s behaviour: “I
didn’t want to say anything or play
with him the wrong way to make
<ex-partner> mad or ‘Oh you
shouldn’t do it that way’. So I just
kind of, just watched him basically.”
This created a hostile environment
for mothers’ care giving, and several
mothers thought, in retrospect, that
they were “robbed” of part of their
child’s life, clearly addressing the
spillover hypothesis.
Discussion
The significantly higher sample
mean scores for the NCATS
caregiver sensitivity to cues and
cognitive growth fostering subscales compared to
the norms suggest that many mothers and infants
succeed in compensating for the exposure to IPV.
Indeed, an unanticipated finding was that in both
NCATS child subscales, children provided clearer
cues and were more responsive to their mothers
than the norms. These infants’ behaviours might
also explain mothers’ lower (in comparison
with the normative sample) mean scores on
the responsiveness to distress NCATS subscale.
Perhaps mothers did not have to ‘respond to
distress’ as the infants were so clear about making
their needs known and parents so sensitive, that
infants did not become “distressed”. Nonetheless,
mothers in this sample scored lower on NCATS
response to distress and social emotional growth
fostering subscales, suggesting some spillover.
Taken together, these findings infer that interaction
guidance for mothers and infants exposed to
violence can approach families from a strengths–
based stance, reinforcing the many positive
aspect of interaction and suggesting some areas
for future focus to maximize compensation and
minimize spillover of IPV into maternal–infant
relationships. z
*Article references available upon request.
RESOLVE news
Volume 14 Number 4
December 2012
Announcements, Conferences and Events



November 25–December 10, 2012 - The 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence. November 25—
the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women—marks the first day of the 16 Days of
Activism against Gender Violence, and December 10—International Human Rights Day—is the final day. The
16 Days of Activism is recognized internationally.
December 6, 2012 - Sunrise Memorial hosted by The Manitoba Women’s Advisory Council (Status of Women),
8 - 9 a.m., in the Rotunda, Legislative Building, 450 Broadway Avenue, Winnipeg, Manitoba.
December 10, 2012 - Human Rights Day
January 23–31, 2013 - 27th Annual San Diego International Conference On Child and Family Maltreatment
presented by the Chadwick Center for Children and Families, in San Diego, CA, USA. The objective of the San
Diego Conference is to develop and enhance professional skills and knowledge in the prevention, recognition,
assessment and treatment of all forms of maltreatment including those related to family violence as well as
to enhance investigative and legal skills. In-depth issues include support for families, prevention, leadership,
policy-making. Translating the latest research into action is also addressed. For more information refer to www.
sandiegoconference.org.
February 26–March 1, 2013 - Canadian Domestic Violence Conference 3: New Directions in Practice,
Research and Collaboration, co-sponsored by Bridges and the Hincks-Dellcrest Centre, Gail Appel Institute.
The event will be held at the Delta Chelsea Hotel and Conference Centre in Toronto, Ontario. While
centering primarily on men’s violence against women, the Conference will also provide the opportunity to
highlight conversations that are often on the margins of the domestic violence field, including violence in
same-sex relationships; violence with people with disabilities; in aboriginal relationships; first generation
immigrant relationships; and straight women’s perpetration of abuse. For more information refer to www.
canadiandomesticviolenceconference.ca, or contact Shannon Holcomb at 416-972-1935, extension 3340;
or e-mail [email protected] or [email protected].
National Day of Remembrance and
Action on Violence Against Women
December 6
in
they were women.
can consider concrete actions to eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls.
Source: www.swc-cfc.gc.ca/dates/vaw-vff/index-eng.html
RESOLVEnews is a quarterly newsletter published by RESOLVE Manitoba. Any submissions, announcements
and inquiries can be directed to the RESOLVE office in each of the three prairie provinces or to the editor, Ilze Ceplis,
RESOLVE Manitoba - phone (204) 474-8965; fax: (204) 474-7686; e-mail: [email protected]
RESOLVE news
Page 7
December 2012 Volume 14 Number 4
We’re finding solutions to protect women and
children from violence and abuse!
Prairie action
Phone: 1-877-926-8129 or (204) 983-1234
E-mail: [email protected]
Web site: www.prairieaction.ca
f o u n d a t i o n
Prairieaction Foundation would like to congratulate the following recipients of the 2012 Community Action,
Research & Education (CARE) Grants. This program furthers our goal to support community-based research into
solutions to violence and abuse by funding qualifying charitable organizations to do research projects that identify
potential strategies, models and methods to ultimately eliminate these issues.
Family Services Regina (Regina, SK) – Targets’ Experience of Stalking, $10,000
Young Women’s Christian Association of Brandon (Brandon, MB) – Mothering, Guiding and Responding to
Children: Are There Differences for Women Experiencing Intimate Partner Violence?, $2,000
Ndinawemaaganag Endaawad Inc. (Winnipeg, MB) – Evaluation of the Ndinawe Child and Youth Care
Certificate Program, $9,801
You can find out more about these projects on our website at www.prairieaction.ca.



2013 CARE Grants Program NOTICE
The Call for Letters of Intent for those interested in receiving a 2013 CARE grant is now available on the
Prairieaction Foundation website, www.prairieaction.ca. All Letters of Intent must be submitted by January
11, 2013. Applicants will be notified by January 28, 2013, if they are invited to submit a full application. Full
applications are due by March 15, 2013.
If you have any questions about the CARE Grants program, contact our Executive Director, Louise Waldman,
at [email protected]. z
RESOLVE Manitoba
RESOLVE Saskatchewan
~ Dr. Jane Ursel ~
Director (Academic)
~ Dr. Mary Hampton ~
Academic Research Coordinator
~ Dr. Nicole Letourneau ~
Academic Research Coordinator
108 Isbister Building
University of Manitoba
Winnipeg, MB R3T 2N2
Ph: (204) 474-8965 Fax: (204) 474-7686
E-mail: [email protected]
LC 210, Luther College
University of Regina
Regina, SK S4S 0A2
Ph: (306) 337-2511 Fax: (306) 585-5267
E-mail: [email protected]
EdT 416
University of Calgary
2500 University Drive NW
Calgary, AB T2N 1N4
Ph: (403) 220-8181 Fax: (403) 210-8117
Website: www.umanitoba.ca/resolve
Website: www.uregina.ca/resolve
E-mail: [email protected]
RESOLVE Alberta
PUBLICATIONS MAIL AGREEMENT NO: 40063171
RETURN UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESSES TO:
RESOLVE news
Page 8